1. Field of the Disclosure
The method disclosed herein relates to manipulating multi-copy/multi-set documents. In particular, the disclosed method relates to ease of insertion of pages into multi-copy/multi-set output.
2. Description of Related Art
Stacking apparatus for forming offset stacks of paper is well known. Each stack comprises a plurality of equal sized sheets stacked in registration one on top of the other. A conveyor belt delivers sheets for stacking. After the apparatus forms one stack of sheets against a paper stop, the paper stop is displaced and a second paper stop is moved into position. The second paper stop is offset from the first paper stop. A second stack of sheets forms against the second paper stop. The second stack is offset from the first stack. The back of each stack is defined as the portion of each stack that is near the conveyor belt which delivers sheets which form and comprise the stack. The front of each stack is defined as a portion of each stack that is adjacent to the paper stop or stops which halt the travel of each sheet in the stack after the sheet is conveyed onto the stack.
An apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,625 to Henry T. Kremers et al. which regulates offsetting stacks of sheets reproduced from at least one original document. In one mode, successive stacks of uncollated sheet are offset from one another, and in another mode, offsetting of stacks of collated copy sheets is inhibited. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,035 a self-contained offset stacker tray assembly is operable in conjunction with the sheet output of a host printer to receive sheets from the host printer and deposit the sheets in offset sets. Similarly, an offsetting paper stacking device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,008 that automatically stacks sheets of paper into groups which are offset from each other. The paper is stacked in one pile; however, within that pile there are groups of sheets that are stacked at a sideways offset to the group immediately above and below. Accordingly, every other group of sheets of paper will be in line with each other and each adjacent group will be offset from each other. A drawback to sheet offset stackers of this type is that east insertion of pages into the offset stacks is not facilitated.
Some printers allow easy manual separation of copies or subsets in a single job by alternating the position of the printed output a few millimeters back and forth between each copy or subset. This allows a person to grab the edge of a copy or subset with their finger and separate it from the rest of a stack of printed output. If one looks at the edge of a stack of printed copies or subsets jogged in this fashion, a square wave pattern will be seen. This is suitable for manually separating copies or subsets in a job, but if one wanted to insert pages, it is more awkward. The boundary between each copy or set is in a different position every time.